About Me

My photo
Redbanks, South Australia, Australia
Contact me if you'd like to know more about this writing group. My email address is jeebers@aussiebb.com.au

Ananka - one of our Pharaoh Hounds

Ananka - one of our Pharaoh Hounds
Ananka knows how to enjoy life - catch and eat birdies!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

What is Good Luck? What is Bad?


Luck is neither good nor bad. Things happen, we deal with them. It’s the way we deal with our luck that can be either good or bad.

The answer may be a long time coming, and good or bad, there are always choices and decisions to be made. 

Until the end, who can really tell which it was, good or bad luck? What seems to be good luck to one, may seem bad luck to another. 

After luck is decided on, there are always more things that can occur to change the way one looks on life's events. 

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Book review John Birmingham's Angels of Vengeance

I've recently read the final book in John Birmingham's most recent trilogy. Here'e my thoughts on it:



There aren’t many authors who grab the reader by the scruff of the neck, threaten them with extreme violence and then keep them racing along with them at top speed.
John Birmingham in his recent trilogy does all of these things and more. He creates action, places and people you truly believe in. Reading the first two books in the trilogy was a gut wrenching race to the end of each book, and then an agonising wait for the final book to arrive.
The unspoken question was always there – could John Birmingham pull this whole thing off? Really, think about it – some mysterious thing goes wrong in the world, and suddenly the whole world gets turned upside down. Mankind remains the same, some good people, some bad. The stakes are high – who will be the ultimate ruler? And the pressure mounts and mounts and mounts.
There is a broad range of characters here – fuelled by religion, hunger for power, people seeking revenge. And revenge is there in plenty, the ending gives visceral knowledge that revenge sought and gained is a sweet thing indeed.
Another great read from Mr Birmingham, a man who gives his readers what they want, blood, guts and plenty of things that go BANG! in a big way.

Monday, January 2, 2012

Life Isn't Always Going to be Great

I'm the kind of person who always tries to find the good in all things in my life. I have some health issues, I don't have a paid job and don't know if I'll ever get another one. I've suffered some awful things in my early life.

This is true for many people, I'm well aware of that, many people have much worse than I have to deal with. I have a lovely family, and some dear friends who care deeply for me. I am a truly lucky person.

One of those dear friends though is suffering at the moment. Their spouse has a mental illness, and isn't doing well with it at the moment. This means my spouse is having a terrible time in their life. I've been keeping in contact with this friend, through emails and txt messages.

I let them know I care, and I hope they can find a way to find a way to live a better life. At the moment though, my friend only seems to be able to focus on the bad things. They go over the bad things over and over, with no thought of anything else.

I'm catching up with my friend tomorrow for coffee and a chat prior to our writing group meeting. My friends says they feel the need to talk to someone who at least in part understands what they're going through. I'm not sure that I do in fact have a big understanding of the extent of their issue, but I am more then happy to be there and listen to them as they talk through it all.

That's what my role in this friendship, I'm there to listen with empathy, and try to help them find some good in their life. That's what good friends do. That's what I will do.

We've shared good times and sad times. This is one of the sad times. My friend thinks I have some special gift that keeps me happy and positive in my troubled life. I don't have a special gift though. What I have is knowledge that no matter how bad life seems, there are ways to see happier times. Being alive is what helps a person to see those happier times.

Life isn't always going to be great, but if you wake up and can get up to face the day, you have the potential to live a good life. Positive feelings help me through, they can help us all.

Thoughts for the New Year

Many people write New Year Resolutions. Many people fail to accomplish the things they'd planned to do. This year, 2012, feels somehow special. Some of my friends have said the same thing. We all feel that this year, we can achieve great things.

I have stated elsewhere that I want to do more with my writing in 2012. I intend writing a new poem on every day in January. I will work toward another writing project when January is over. And perhaps the most important thing is this: I will work toward increasing my physical fitness.

Everybody should work toward having a healthy and fit body. This has become even more important for me over the past year. In February last year I became ill, and was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). MS can cause physical  weakness, fatigued and a variety of things.

In the latter part of 2011 I began an exercise program. I strongly most strongly to continue this program. I currently have an issue with my health caused by a trip and fall accident, but I am doing my best to continue doing physical things, being careful not to overstrain my sore ankle. So far it's going well.

After two days of January, my poem a day is going well too. I wrote a new poem early in the morning and posted it online. I don't expect to write 31 perfect poems for the month of January. What I want to do is to get into the habit of writing on command.

If I can become accustomed to doing that, I'm expecting it to become easier, with an improvement in my creative efforts. Some people claim they can't write unless their 'muse' is there. I plan to write when I need to write, and the muse can catch up with me later!

For me, the important thing will be physically writing. The quality of the writing can be tweaked and polished after, but first I must have the words written.

I will be posting some of my poems to this site, feel free to have a look, and let me know what you think about my poem!

Waiting for night to come

Waiting for night to come
I love sunsets